The LAPD of the 1970s and '80s acted as a hard-charging force. Officers of that era were trained to think of themselves as soldiers in a never-ending war on crime.
But now the department is using that history as a crucial lesson for its officers.
"We were warriors," Deputy Chief Bill Scott recently told a room filled with LAPD rank-and-file officers, a group of fresh-faced rookies watching from the front, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Now, he said, officers need to think of themselves as guardians watching over communities — not warriors cracking down on them.
